Weaknesses and Truths
by Willowsandbees
Summary: (No pairings, Slightly OOC,post-timeskip) Why do people protect the weak...? A rough battle has left Usopp disappointed in himself yet again. Can a conversation with his usually happy-go-lucky captain help him realize the truth? (R&R please)


The curly haired man sat on the railing, and rubbed the thick bandages around his chest hesitantly.

"I'm sorry." An honest tone was one in a million for the man, yet he used one here, and the raven-haired leader knew he would not hear any midnight stories of adventure from the sniper as he sat across the deck.

There was a long silence, and the sniper clutched the white wrappings with white knuckles and a furrowed brow. The silence meant his captain was ashamed of him, he knew it, he could feel it in the air, could taste the bitterness in his breath, he knew it, he knew it-

"If I had only been- " he interrupted his own thoughts as a tear of frustration managed to squeezed through thinned eyes glaring at the dark sea. "Dammit, I'm so w-"

"Don't."

"But, I'm just-"

"Usopp, that's a captain's order. Stop. Don't say another word."

He gritted his teeth tightly, getting splinters under his nails as he gripped the railing. The captain rarely pulled his rank, only when he was at his most serious, and it frightened the sniper.

Luffy walked from his spot across the ship and sat next to the man on the railing, kicking his feet against the small white pillars, and the thuds echoed. The thing that stood out the most on the boy was the bloody bandages on his shoulder, signifying a much deeper wound than the one he bore. It smelled of iron, and part of him wanted to tell the captain to visit chopper and get the cloth changed. However, he knew the man had something to tell him, and so he left his lips sealed in a deep frown as ordered.

"If I hadn't wanted to protect you, I wouldn't have." Luffy folded his hands tightly between his knees. "This wound is nothing."

"But-!" Usopp dared to break the order, biting down on his lip to stop himself, in vain. "The sword was supposed to hit me, not you! If you hadn't done that…I ….would have been fine…"

"Don't lie to me," Luffy looked at him seriously. "Not right now…I know what that attack would have done to you."

The sniper tore his gaze away, something within him snapping.

"It would have killed me, I know. It's because I'm weak…everyone on the crew can tell. I'm just a burden!" He spat, banging his fist on the railing hard enough to lift them both off the ledge for a moment. He heard Luffy scoff quietly next to him.

"I can't believe you still think that way, after all these years. "

"I think that way because I know the _truth! _I should have died, maybe then -"

The boy captain stood on the railing suddenly, and there was a sickening noise of impact as he slammed his fist across his sniper's face, who toppled backwards on to the lawn deck.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Usopp sat up and rubbed the red mark quickly spreading across his numb jaw. "Just…"He was about to continue yelling when he saw the flustered,_ watery_ eyes of his captain-his _friend_- staring at him intently.

"Don't EVER say that!" the voice was raw.

Usopp's face twitched as tears began pouring out of his eyes. The corners of his mouth dug deeper towards his jaw. He knew that he had struck a nerve within his captain, and it suddenly dawned on him that though the thought scared him, Luffy must have felt the same way so many times.

When he was defeated by Aokiji, when he was defeated by Crocodile, when he had lost both Usopp and Robin within the same span of time, and every time he had lost a battle or let them be injured in the time since then…

When he had been defeated by so many people in Marineford, when he_ had lost his brother…_

He choked on a sob.

"…why do you do so much for us, Luffy?" he asked softly through his tears..._Even when we don't deserve it?_

"Are you an idiot?" Luffy said, smiling gently. "You'd all do the same for me, right?" He jumped down from the railing, crouching on the lawn deck next to his friend. The man shuddered at the implications such a comment had.

_I am weak sometimes too. I need all of you when that happens._

"I don't know how to use swords," he began suddenly, and Usopp raised his head to meet his eyes. "I can't navigate; I don't know how to cook. I can't even lie."

"Oi. " Usopp said lightheartedly. His mouth widened into a smile, straining against the fading pain of his cheek and jaw.

"I can't treat wounds or illnesses; I don't know a thing about archeology. I don't know how to fix or build a ship, and I'm nearly tone-deaf." He chuckled.

Usopp smiled at the nostalgia of the familiar, old words, and the full meaning met him due to the context of the conversation.

Luffy stood, walking a bit and leaning against the wall to the men's cabin.

"We all need each other," he smiled widely. "What would we do without a swordsman, a navigator, a sniper, a cook, a doctor, an archeologist, a shipwright and a musician? I need each and _every one_ of you to live on, and you all need each other." He laughed, and smiled a wide, genuine smile that filled the sniper with something warm he couldn't identify, but it reminded him of the feeling he used to earn when praised by his mother. It was something comforting and honest, and all the previous sadness and _shame_ began to negate with the burning jaw.

"Sorry about your face," he said in his usual light tone, he laughed his funny little "shishishi" as he smiled his usual smile and entered the cabin, choosing to end the conversation on that odd note. The door closed with a gently thud_._

The sniper closed his eyes, and memories flooded over him. Everything the captain had done for them hit him full-force, and he felt gratitude welling up in his chest with new tears, happier ones, and Usopp couldn't help but wonder when the first ones had dried.

_That's the truth, Luffy,_

The liar thought as he moved slowly up mast to begin his watch.

_But what would we do without a Captain?_


End file.
